JOE

Directed by: David Gordon Green
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Tye Sheridan
Running time: 117 minutes

When was the last time I saw Nicolas Cage in a good movie? He's a good actor I think, but sometimes he chose bad movies over good one. I remember Adaptation and Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call, New Orleans as his good ones (among many). So what about this one?

Joe Ransom (Nicolas Cage) is a man of restrain. He can explode into violent behaviour in minutes but try to hold himself back. He drinks and have a bulldog as companion. He also had an arch nemesis in that small town.

It wasn't clear what town it is, but it is not modern and it looks rundown with poverty. Joe is friendly and loyal to his crew of laborers. One runaway kid, Gary (Tye Sheridan) suddenly shows up and impress Joe with his work ethic.

But Joe has a troublesome family. His father is a drunkard and his family is dirt poor. Soon everything will comes crashing down and Joe must took severe action to protect Gary from the madness of this world.

Low budget, this one felt a bit southern gothic and present a world where loyalty and friendship as something important. Nicolas Cage is amazing here, he shows that he still got the skill to be a good actor. Is he going to abandon tentpole movies to indie ones? I do hope so. Tye Sheridan (known from Mud and The Tree of Life) is also good, he got talent and his looks is perfect for his role.

Had this been released during Oscar season, Nicolas Cage would easily got nominated. Well, actually that depends on release time and campaign.